April 08, 2014

Edamame-Miso Tuna Salad Sandwiches

Saveur (April 2014)

Does your pantry ever surprise you?

Ours does. We remember fondly the first time, years ago, when we were able to make dinner entirely using foods we already had in our pantry. We were shocked! After years of living in tiny apartments, we'd grown accustomed to buying only the foods we were about to cook. But when we moved in together (and upgraded to a slightly larger kitchen), we started amassing pantry staples and frozen basics until one day -- boom! -- we could make whole meals from our pantry without having to buy a single thing.

Of course, in the six years of writing this blog, our pantry has grown a little ridiculous. We have more exotic spices than we know what to do with (rogan josh, anyone?), and our freezer overfloweth. (Sometimes, things have gotten so crowded that we've had to made a conscious effort to eat only from our cupboards.)

But our pantry can still surprise us. That was the case with these Edamame-Miso Tuna Salad Sandwiches from Saveur. We dog-eared the recipe, and then it dawned on us that even though this was a slightly exotic take on tuna salad, we already had every single ingredient on hand.

And yes, before you say anything, white miso is, in fact, a pantry staple around our house.

First off, why do we keep miso on hand? Because it's super cheap, it essentially never spoils, and it is a fast ticket to Flavortown. Mix a tablespoon into some whipped sweet potatoes for a savory side dish. Stir some into soup for a great umami base. You can even use miso in chocolate chip cookies. (As miso novices, we use red and white miso fairly interchangeably.)

Anyway, we had the rest of the ingredients for this tuna salad in our kitchen as well. We always keep a few bags of Trader Joe's frozen edamame -- perfect in a salad, as a snack, or steamed as a side dish. And we always, always have cans of tuna in the cupboard. We're partial to tuna packed in olive oil.

Oh! One thing we did not have? Sesame chili oil. But we did have plain sesame oil and some red chili oil. So we just winged it and mixed them together.

So how is this tuna salad? Awesome. Absolutely awesome. It is an excellent variation on classic tuna salad. (And since there's no mayo, it's a healthier version, too.) We are completely in love. We've already made two big batches. It's perfect to pack for work lunches.

Our only slight mistake was that we somewhat oversalted the first batch. Between the savory flavors of the sesame oil and the miso, you're already getting a nice salty kick. So just monitor the salt you add instead of blindly tossing in a whole handful like we did.

This is actually part of a great little grid in the April Saveur with 9 different tuna salad recipes. We're eager to try Fennel Orange, Lemon-Pepper, and the Tuscan Tuna Sandwich. Give them a try and let us know what you think.

While you try those, we're gonna make a few more batches of this Edamame-Miso version.

INSTRUCTIONS

Comments

Edamame-Miso Tuna Salad Sandwiches

Saveur (April 2014)

Does your pantry ever surprise you?

Ours does. We remember fondly the first time, years ago, when we were able to make dinner entirely using foods we already had in our pantry. We were shocked! After years of living in tiny apartments, we'd grown accustomed to buying only the foods we were about to cook. But when we moved in together (and upgraded to a slightly larger kitchen), we started amassing pantry staples and frozen basics until one day -- boom! -- we could make whole meals from our pantry without having to buy a single thing.

Of course, in the six years of writing this blog, our pantry has grown a little ridiculous. We have more exotic spices than we know what to do with (rogan josh, anyone?), and our freezer overfloweth. (Sometimes, things have gotten so crowded that we've had to made a conscious effort to eat only from our cupboards.)

But our pantry can still surprise us. That was the case with these Edamame-Miso Tuna Salad Sandwiches from Saveur. We dog-eared the recipe, and then it dawned on us that even though this was a slightly exotic take on tuna salad, we already had every single ingredient on hand.

And yes, before you say anything, white miso is, in fact, a pantry staple around our house.